This image released by Lionsgate shows Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, left, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a scene from "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Murray Close)ERIE TIMES-NEWS

In "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," certainly plenty has changed.

Rebellion against the totalitarian rule of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the 12 districts of Panum is growing. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is now a beloved hero with the weight of celebrity on her shoulders.

Yet the general plot -- a journey from Katniss' poor hometown of District 12 to a climactic game of human hunting in "the arena," with high-speed train rides and training sessions in between -- is identical to the first "Hunger Games."

New director Francis Lawrence, working with a higher budget, gives the film a more settled environment heavy on grays and a more appropriately grave emotional atmosphere.

"Catching Fire" opens with Katniss back in District 12, haunted by the experiences of her first Hunger Games. There, too, is her flame Gale (Liam Hemsworth), who's slaving away in the mines.

But Katniss' success in the Hunger Games was partly due to her for-publicity-sake romance with her co-winner Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). President Snow, aware of the put-on, insists they keep up the charade to help pacify the uprising.

The act doesn't work as Snow intended. On their victory tour, we get glimpses of protesters, emboldened by Katniss, swiftly snuffed out by guards. So, Snow announces the next Hunger Games will be fought between former winners. He hopes they'll reveal, during the reality show broadcast, Katniss as a killer, not a symbol of populist hope.

Yet, this ultimately feels like dystopia-lite: a bloody tale of oppression watered down for a PG-13 rating.